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X-Ray Microscopy Techniques Cryogenically Preserve Cells
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Microscopy Techniques
In a recent discovery, researchers at the Northwestern University’s Department of Radiation Oncology and the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory unveiled a new “non-destructive X-ray microscopy solution from Xradia to image cryogenically preserved cells and advance studies of intra-cellular biology.” The technology and the study, thus far, points to advances in the potential treatment of neurological disorders, cancers and diseases that involve the accumulation of metals within the cells.
The new technology utilizes a non-invasive 3D X-ray microscope that delivers high-resolution X-ray trace “element mapping and tomography of cryogenically preserved samples down to 30 nm.” With this microscope, researchers will be able to more fully understand what transpires within cells.
Researchers hope to gain an understanding as to what role trace elements play in the natural cellular processes including aging and cell division. The new microscope will be able to track zinc and iron in the cells. It’s hoped that the technology will help researchers discover whether they can manipulate nanoparticles into a nucleus and produce a desired reaction. The X-ray microscope will detect biological processes and patterns with “greater sensitivity” than in the past. Microscopy researchers have long understood the need for a microscope that could hone in on cells on a more than microscopic level at resolutions that are “significantly below 100 nm.”
The new X-ray technology will benefit medical professionals from environmental studies, pharmacology, toxicology and other vital medical areas. The microscope will enable researchers to see images in four specific modes: high resolution X-ray fluorescence (XRF), transmission, spectroscopy, and tomography. These techniques, combined will offer further insight on chemical states, structures and elemental content in a 3D state. Prior to the advent of this technology, researchers were forced to switch between multiple technologies to view specific cell structures; this involved using different samples on slides and performing different preparation techniques for each sample, which had a margin of error in changing how a sample was viewed. The multiple techniques used in the past included: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), visible light microscopy and electron microscopy, often using different samples and different preparation techniques for each one.
This technique and technology, the bionanoprobe, is able to combine “ultra-high resolution trace element mapping with cryogenic sample preservation and tomographic (3D imaging) capabilities.”